We are some of the neighbours who are acting against Piplings nursery on Liphook Crescent. We would like to put our case forward to present some kind of balance.
First, we want to say that Tlera has not helped us financially with the case regarding the covenant but has offered moral support and some assistance on research. The association's profile in the case has heightened since the owners of the nursery chose to go to the Lands Chamber to have the covenant altered.
You may think the covenant is outdated but it provides security to know that we can't suddenly end up with a number of businesses operating throughout the estate. Many people may run businesses from a computer in their homes but unlike a nursery these have little impact and do not disturb
their neighbours.
We chose to buy into a quiet residential area but since April 2010, we have been living near a commercial operation. The nursery is open five days a week, 51 weeks a year - that's longer than a school year. It runs from 8am to 6pm - that's longer than many shops on the high street. A house the size of the nursery could have four to five children. That is quite different from eight, 12, 16, even potentially
24 children plus three to four carers supervising playtime in the garden, twice a day, every day, whatever the weather. It is a total inconvenience, exactly the reason such covenants are in place and need to be protected.
Despite the legal case/land tribunal hearings being weeks away, we have learned that Piplings is to close. We would like to know whether the nursery has actually handed out a formal letter of closure or is it all just word-of-mouth as it is still being advertised on the website. Is it just a ploy to stir up emotions and set neighbour against neighbour and parents against residents?
But parents need not worry. The owners of Piplings have already started another nursery for 24 children at The Elms, just off
Forest Hill Road with Peckham Rye Park to the rear. We understand it offers facilities that are in no way inferior to those of Liphook Crescent with a huge, rear-walled garden for the children to play in and no neighbours to disturb.
A new Ofsted approved pre-school opposite Fairlawn school is also opening in late February.